Athletics Report

Saturday 13 September

Invitational #4

Back to E S Marks Athletics Field (E S Marks) for the final Invitational Carnival before the 129th AAGPS Athletics Carnival, Saturday, 20 September. For the Shore squad, the majority of the team was locked away, with only a small number of spots remaining. This Invitational provided the opportunity for our athletes who were already selected to relax and freshen up before next weekend, and for those athletes still vying for a spot to focus on competing in the identified event. The most exciting contest was the second spot for the open Shot Put event. Hugh T-J had already secured his place as one of the competitors, so Charlie G and School Captain Angus L had to battle it out to see who was going to compete at their final AAGPS Athletics Carnival. All students requested an extra training session on Friday morning with Mr Massey, which they threw solid for 45 minutes. It came down to the final throw. Angus had posted a huge distance of over 12 metres when Charlie threw even further, but it was deemed a foul. Congratulations to Angus for gaining the second spot in Opens Shot Put; however, Charlie is still a reserve and is an integral part of the team’s success by pushing the others to further distances. This effort was evident throughout the final Invitational.

Middle Distance

Pleasingly, a week out from the ‘real deal’, we had a good number of Middle Distance lads compete at E S Marks last Saturday, most doing a reduced programme as they prepare for next week, hoping to be as fresh as possible.

Tom Gray and Jonty Jagger both ran well to start the day in the 3k. They both secured solid season’s bests, with Jonty having a little too much ‘kick’ for Tom in the dying stages and passed to be first home for Shore. Jonty finished in 9min 47secs and Tom, 9min 48secs. We are all keen to see them sneak under 9:30 tomorrow, hopefully the crowd will be in good voice and cheer them on to a blinder!

Henry ‘Ferg’ Ferguson must be an avid reader of the Shore Weekly Record, can’t blame him; such exquisite prose, as he set about demolishing his PB from last year in the 800m, I believe someone suggested it wasn’t far away last week… he rocketed around the track in 2min 17:93secs. We look forward to that PB only lasting a week! George Harvey didn’t look himself in his race as he tried to get back on track after being crook early in the week, we trust he’ll be dosed up on plenty of chicken soup and care in the lead up to next Saturday and will be firing on all cylinders once again. We had a plan in the next two races with Tom Armati being the carrot for the rabbit Archie Watson in the Under 15s and then Toby Ward for Ben Frantz in the Under 16s. Things pretty much went to plan with Archie gallantly hanging onto Tom as best he could and posted a solid time of 2min 13secs with Tom a couple of seconds ahead of him in 2min 11secs. Toby kicked early and looked lighter on his feet in his race, racing up in the 16s with Ben, who did his best to latch onto Toby. It was always going to be tough ask in athletics for Ben this year on the back of a nasty sprain to his ankle in the second last week of Cross Country. He fought hard, securing a solid 2min 13secs time, yet paid the price a bit with a shin splint flare-up! Poor fellow, we know he loves his running, and 2025 hasn’t been kind to him, though we are sure he’ll be back! Toby crossed the line in 2min 10secs and must surely be eyeing a good result in his race at GPS. Alas, for the second week in a row, James Bestic held off that young upstart Hugo Stewart in the Open 800. I was not so secretly hoping Hugo might be able to slide past our Vice Captain, hence giving me an opportunity to needle James, (it seems to be a good coaching technique for James, it brings out the best in him… so I reckon…) but James was having none of it and secured another solid time of 2min 2:79secs with Hugo not far behind in 2min 5secs. Would love to see them both under 2mins tomorrow; pin your ears back lads!

We only had five 1500m runners start at the end of the day, most opting to do their shorter races. Two young blokes, Henry Grieve and Zac Roberston, ran well in the Under 13s, Henry getting the better of Zac, who looked to be cruising, unlike Henry, who was pushing hard! Henry secured himself a very nice little PB of 4min 51secs, and Zac went sub 5min for the second week in a row in 4min 59secs. Nice! Jackson Sprott is as tough as nails and a fierce competitor. He’s been battling a foot niggle all season, yet he has pushed through the pain, the physio giving the ok to do so, as he went 4min 56secs. We expect he’ll give those around him a scare tomorrow! Toby Ward ran well in the same race as Jackson, as the Under 14s and Under 15s were thrown together, and he secured a solid 4min 34sec mark. James Warren waited until the last race to record Shore’s fastest 1500 of the day in 4min 33secs! We look forward to his racing tomorrow, and his not looking at his watch…

Sprints

Under ideal conditions at E S Marks on Saturday, athletes were treated to a “Goldilocks” day—neither too hot nor too cold—as they competed in the final lead-up to the 2025 AAGPS Athletics Carnival. With selection spots still on the line, performances were marked by intensity, precision, and a string of personal bests.

Sprint Highlights:

Gilbert Cay demonstrated continued progression, delivering a solid 100m and achieving a personal best in the 200m with a time of 25.88.
Hugo Huang maintained his consistent form, clocking a PB of 13.90 in the 100m.
Alexander Mouracadeh and Archie Smith have shown commendable dedication throughout the season, each earning PBs in the 100m—13.56 and 14.69, respectively.
A special commendation goes to Teddy Sharp, a Year 6 Prep athlete who competed up an age division in the Under 13s category. Despite the challenge, he delivered standout performances: 13.16 in the 100m and 26.81 in the 200m—remarkable efforts against older competitors.

Under 14s Division:

Harry Cominakis posted a 14.29 in the 100m, ran a strong 200m, and stepped up to compete in the 400m.
Jake Mears and Orlando Stewart both recorded their fastest 100m times to date—13.90 and 12.31, respectively.

Middle Age Groups:

In the Under 15s, Toby Cay achieved a PB of 25.73 in the 200m.
In the Under 16s, Toby Cochrane ran a 25.88, while Micah Michin and Scott Robson delivered impressive PBs of 24.79 and 24.20, respectively.

Under 17s Division:

Andrew Milton ran a strong 100m and followed up with a PB of 24.50 in the 200m.
Will Ward also impressed with a season-best 26.32 in the 200m.

Open Division:

The day’s standout performances came from Charlie Mott, Jai Callaghan, Digby Hockey, and Rex Bassingthwaighte, whose dominance in the 4 x 100m has set a high benchmark heading into the main event.

With the AAGPS Carnival just days away at Homebush, the athletes can approach the competition with confidence, knowing they’ve put in the hard work. Regardless of the outcome, their commitment and representation of Shore are a source of pride for the entire School community.

High Jump

The Under 13s once again displayed high rates of participation and effort, with Henry Ferguson and Billy Cossain achieving a high of 1.4m. The Under 14s struggled to overcome the personal bests they had achieved in prior weeks, with some minor technical errors limiting their overall performances. Some impressive jumps and consistency were seen in the Under 15s, however, with multiple athletes achieving a height of 1.6m. The excitement of the day peaked during a historical performance in the Under 16s. Lucas Wright was able to achieve a personal best of 1.97m and become the School record holder in the Under 16s division, besting the previous record of 1.96m! Congratulations to Lucas on his performance, validating the effort and preparation to achieve this feat. The Under 17s and Opens jumpers, Julian Harrison and Logan Crookshanks, also performed admirably and jumped 1.85m and 1.8m respectively.

Shot Put

Saturday 13 September saw the Shore boys put in their last efforts before the GPS carnival. Some athletes have peaked right on schedule and saw season-best throws, a testament to the efforts put into training this Term. Stand out athletes pushing the distances this week were Angus Leslie in the opens with a 12.02m and Harry Fuzes in the Under 15s with 11.30m. A notable mention this week goes to Harrison Bunker, a School record breaker last season, who saw his first hit out after a niggling shoulder injury, to throw an impressive 13.81m. Excitement is building for the big dance this coming Saturday at Homebush.

Long Jump

The fourth and final invitational carnival saw continued success in the Long Jump event and boys improving their results over the previous weeks. Noah Quayle and Luke Maclennan started the day well, boasting competitive distances with each jump. Sam Holt hit a personal best in his final jump of the day, and Jai Callaghan improved on last week’s jump by 20 cm. In the Under 16s, Will Bestic has perfected his run-up and continues to be consistent in his take-off. The Long Jump squad is primed and ready to go for the AAGPS carnival this weekend. Best of luck to all the athletes.

Hurdles

At E S Marks for the final invitational, the aim for the squad was to have one final practice run before the AAGPS Carnival. Hugo Rofe ran well in Under 13s for a PB, as did Sam Holt in Under 14s. Scott Robson continued to improve his PB – this time he was over a second faster than his previous best – and Michael Hocking confirmed his selection as the division Under 16 hurdler. Tom Kierse ran with strength in the Under 17 event, and our Opens Charlie Mott and Jack Riding both showed great technique in one of their final runs for the School.

Reports written by the Athletics Coaches 2025